Sunday, January 29, 2017

Day #28 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeYesterday's painting. Three more days and three more paintings to go. I have today's painting laid out and hope to finish it this evening. We're going to have company for supper so after they leave I will go back to my studio. Now I must go back to my kitchen.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Day #21 of the 2017 30/30 Challenge

Since I'm presently taking a figurative/narrative painting class, I thought I would practice a bit with a small painting. Each painting should tell a story. I couldn't decide whether to call this one, "Good Morning, Mr. Sun" or "His Sister's Pajamas". Either title would make an interesting story, I think.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Day #18 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeI thought that January would be a quiet month with lots of painting time, but that's not the case here. Seems like there is always something to do. I'm thankful that they are good "somethings".

Friday, January 13, 2017

Day #13 of the 2017 30/30 Challenge I was able to finish my painting today for our Virtual Paint-Out trip to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico, located in the Caribbean,
about 1200 miles southeast of Florida, consists of a main island and various
smaller surrounding islands. The main island measures about 110 mi. x 40 mi. (a
bit smaller than three Rhode Islands) and is home to approx 3,579,000 people.

The island is an
unincorporated U.S. territory with a landscape of mountains, rain-forests and
beautiful sandy beaches. The climate is tropical marine with average year round
temperatures in the low 80’s.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Day #12 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeWe are almost halfway through the 30/30 Challenge. This
morning I evaluated all my completed paintings for this series and added
the final touches.

My preferred method of painting has three main steps – the
underpainting, the painting itself and the final touches. Even though the
paintings in this series are small, usually 5x7 or 6x8, they still require the
same procedure with drying time between the steps. And, of course, the larger the canvas the more involved and time consuming the steps become. The final touches are the most fun – enriching the darks, brightening the
lights and increasing the color intensity – all the little bits that add
excitement.

I enjoy this 30/30 challenge because it forces me to revisit my
stash of reference photos. Not all photos are compositionally correct, in fact most are not, so this gives me the opportunity to experiment and see if the
photo would work in a larger painting.

This afternoon I worked on the painting for our Virtual Paint-Out trip to Puerto Rico.
I had already scouted out the island via my computer and Google Street Views,
downloaded a few scenes to my Kindle and laid in my 8x10 underpainting.

There is no painting to see today even though I worked in my studio for most of the day. I was going to post a WIP (work in progress) but didn’t. I don’t like to post something that isn’t finished. Hopefully tomorrow I can work on Puerto Rico and post it for Day #13.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Day #7 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeWe turn here at Donna's house to go up the hill to our road. We have been good neighbors for many years. She now spends the winters in Florida and the house patiently waits for her return.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Day #5 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeThis is my version of one of my favorite paintings. The original hung in the livingroom of the Florida beach house we rented for many winters. I don't know the name of the artist but this painting brings back great memories of long walks on the beach with my husband and our dog, Sophie. Lazy days, good books, happy hours with friends, and fried oysters. Thank you, whoever you are.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Day #1 of the 2017 30/30 ChallengeToday is the first day of California artist, Leslie Saeta’s,
Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge for January 2017. I’m looking
forward to the challenge again this year. Since my typical painting procedure
requires at least two layers of paint, I hope to have two paintings going each
day – one started and one to finish.

If I’m successful, I will be photographing and posting them daily to
this blog and my Ebay Store. Later they will be added to my website and my
Pinterest. This should be interesting…. So here we go.

Red Sky in the Morning, 5x7, oil SOLD

"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.Red sky at night, sailors delight."

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